General Election 2019: How Labour lost England – new report

The English Labour Network has launched a new report into why Labour lost the 2019 General Election. The contents of the paper has been covered by Ben Glaze in today’s Daily Mirror.

The paper highlights:

• How the Conservatives election victory was almost entirely in England and amongst voters whose primary national identity is English.
• That Labour has a long-standing and deepening crisis in its relationship with English voters that must be addressed if the party is ever to win again.
• How in 2019 the party failed to make any attempt to address English voters or the governance of England.

There is no path back to power that doesn’t run through England and English voters.

We urge Labour to:

• Recognise the significance of English identifying voters. It should recommend the development of a policy, communications and campaign strategy aimed at these voters. This should be integrated into, not apart from, the party’s wider campaigning.
• Support changes to Labour’s constitution to allow English Labour members to make policy for England.
• Support campaigns now for a constitutional convention and citizen’s assembly to consider the governance of England. This could be convened by Labour local authorities.

Read the full report here.

We have submitted this report to Labour Together’s Election Review.